Why is this necessary? Mostly because I’m a fucking idiot and my internal grammar and spelling is fucked up. I have only myself to blame for this of course…
So I guess I’ll write this article for two reasons. The first is to actually teach myself these things (or at least come up with my own “proprietary” language hahaha). and the second is to make consistent rules to have the articles have some kind of consistency.
One idea I have (which is probably what I’ll go for) is to use Simple_English_Wikipedia‘s simple English rules and then modify them. If I do go for this idea (which I probably will), I’ll try to keep it understandable for both native and non-native speakers. Hilariously, I may end up speaking better English if I go for it. I’ve changed my mind. The word lists I’ll probably use (with modifications of course) but I’ll end up rewriting my grammar rules myself (I’ll probably use what I know of Czech, English and Matoran grammar1) to do this). I find the Simple English, shockingly, too simple for this wiki.
It should be noted that I’m not a linguist, I don’t even consider myself a hobbyist. Since the language on this wiki will likely be a constructed language and I’m not a linguist, it probably won’t be that good. So a lot of stuff will likely be poorly explained and vague, I can’t really say much else about that.
I glanced at this article for the first time in a while… and it’s a mess. Jeez, I gotta do a lot of cleaning don’t I?
I was just gonna add a thing here saying I would start using Japanese honorifics in the writing here. This stems from Saten-san and Komoe-sensei… it just feels weird without the honorifics. I’ll be applying this to the rest of the characters as I go on. For now this is good enough.
Since this is slowly going to approach conlang territory, I’ll call this new English variant “English-7”2). I realise this article is a mess, but it’s more like a “playground” for now. Once I actually have “English-7” in a usable state; I’ll rewrite the article3). Since “English-7” is a mess; I struggle to rewrite the RetroShare article even with the rules I currently have.
The grammar that isn’t defined by me (or poorly defined by me) is still mostly taken from English (making E-7 dependant on English). Another issue is the lack of syntax, which is mostly taken from English.
Holes in the grammar will be filled eventually and the syntax will be filled in with word lists.
Yeah, I’ll write these a bit later.
For now here are some general pointers.
Hold on, I’ll get a grammar guide.
Sentences always begin with a capital letter and end with a (.),(!) or (?).
Like, what the fuck should I say here.
Commas (,) join two sentences together that vaguely share information4). It can also be used to separate unimportant information from a sentence. Finally, it can be used to add “breaks” to a longer sentence5).
These (;;;) fucking things.
Official grammar guides claim they join two sentences together that normally wouldn’t meld. I honestly can’t figure out how it would be different from the comma thing though. Might have figured it out?
It’s fucking weird and I can’t figure out how to use it properly.
Semi-colons are used to join two sentences together where one is dependant on the other in some way, but it isn’t easy to use commas to do so in a satisfactory way. Separating them into two separate sentences will lead to a(n admittedly minor) loss of information.
When used in a word (take-away) they are used to combine two separate words to express a different concept7).
I still have no idea how to use them properly in a sentence. Possibly used to provide something similar to a semi-colon.
Used after explaining something to name it out specifically. Different from a semi-colon as a semi-colon specifically joins two sentences whereas this is used to name an object/subject.
By now it should be obvious I’m in the deep end.
“‘s” is used to express ownership (this is the case even if it isn’t a person or whatever the actual rules are). Like “cat’s box”. “s” is used for other cases.
What about “is” shortenings? I don’t really know, these rules should be changed in some way to make it clear which is which. Under the current rules, “cat’s box” can be either “cats box” or “cat is box”. It could be a contextual clue? You don’t exactly say “cat is box”, but, if you do say “cat is dead” people will know.
For now, it’s dependant on context unfortunately.
Modifiers are placed before nouns. They should be limited to a maximum of three.
The subject should come first and the object last. The verb comes before the object. If it is unclear in a sentence, it must be rewritten.
One sentence can only contain one subject, multiple verbs and objects can follow after the first object. Once a second subject is introduced, it becomes another sentence and should either be split off or a comma should be added.
This is mostly a test to see if it’s possible to exclude the subject from sentences.
For this, I regard them as “dependant sentences”. These sentences are dependant on a separate sentence (one that came before) for the subject. Basically, dependant sentences can only include a Verb and an Object. If a Subject is introduced, it immediately becomes the subject for all future dependant sentences. If you wish to return to the original subject, you have to reintroduce it.
Whether “this and it” and so on can be considered the same as the primary subject or separate is something to debate later on.
Commas could be used to make it less awkward. Although, it might interfere with the previously established rules.
Items in a list need to be separated by a comma (,). The final item always has an “and” instead of a comma. A comma should be placed before the “and” only when it is a list related to people/modifiers of people.
To make something negative, add “not”, “did not”, “has not” and variants.
Questions are marked with “Who, what, when, where, why, how” at the start and a question mark at the end. Technically, any sentence can be turned into a question, but this is vague.
Three periods(…) should be used in special circumstances8). It is mostly a stylistic choice.
“An” should only be used if the next word’s first letter is pronounced as a vowel, if ignored, the “A” blends with the next vowel. “A” is used if it’s a consonant.
Wikipedia calls these (excluding because) “coordinating conjucations”. I should really study grammar and linguistics then holy fuck. Two, threeFourty videos on YouTube should be sufficient!
Jeeh, Aill rait theez eh bit laytr.
Refer to the list on the Simple English Wikipedia every now and then. Combined with that are a few “specialty” words from the “Jargon?” section.
Spelling is generally of the British variant. In other cases just use a fucking spellchecker. (Should I create my own spelling rules - NO do NOT)
Contractions are acceptable, but you should create an article for them anyway.
(Should I create an article with a list of words? - You already had that idea - the glossary.)
These are suggestions for word lists that I’ll create myself (to add onto the list on Simple English Wikipedia).
At this point I gave up, a list of my own is probably needed.
Absolute, watashi’ll psat a 1 timeahead.
This will establish what rules to use in relation to terminology that is uncommon outside of the circles I hang around in.
Generally, you want to avoid using anything too complicated and “alien”. If you do use something strange, you should link to it in the glossary where there will be a good explanation of it.